Collapsible tray for water-heaters.



J. W. GAMBLE.

GOLLAPSIBLE TRAY FOR WATER HEATERS.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1909. v

' Patented Feb, 28, 1911.

1n: Mamas PETERS (:04, WASHINGTON, n. v:v

ann' eeri LOVER-LING WHARTON, WILLIAM S. l-IALLOWELL, AND JQHN JOSEPH C.C. JONES, ALL OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, A FIRM.

COLLAPSIBLE TRAY FOR VJATER-HEATERS.

ceases.

Application filed November 9, 1909.

Specification of Letters Pater Patented Feb. 28, 1911.

Serial No. 527,02

ll '0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josnrn lV. GAMBLE, a resident of Philadelphia, inthe county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented acertain new and useful Improvement in Collapsible Trays for Water-Heaters, of which the following is a true and exact description,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a partthereof.

My present invention relates to water heat ers, such as open feed waterheaters in which water is heated by the direct action of steam. In such.a heater trays are so arranged that the water to be heated will flowover them in more or less thin films to thereby facilitate theabstraction of the water of the heat of the steam admitted to theheater.

The object of the invention is to provide a simple and effective trayfor heaters of the kind specified which may be collapsed when necessaryto facilitate the insertion and removal of the trays regardless of dirtwhich may accumulate on and adhere to the tray or supports therefor.

The various features of novelty which characterize my invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this specification. For a better understanding of the invention,however, and the advantages possessed by it, reference should be had tothe accompanying drawings and descriptive matter in which I haveillustrated and described one form in which the invention may beembodied.

Of the drawings, Figure l is an elevation, partly broken away and insection showing a heater provided with my improved trays. Fig. 2 is aplan, partly in section, on the line 22 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a partialsec,- tional elevation on the line 33 of Fig. but on larger scale thanFigs. 1 and 2, and Fig. t is a front side elevation of a portion of atray.

In the drawings, A represents the body of an open feed Water heater of awell known type in common use.

A represents the steam inlet to the heater, A the overflow connectionlimiting the height of the water level in the heater, A the serviceoutlet for hot water, and A the cold water inlet pipe. The cold waterfrom pipe A is discharged into a trough like receptacle 13 from which itpasses on to the upper one of a series of oppositely inclined trays C.The trays C are supported by a pair of vertical plate like supports Dwhich are secured to the body of the heater A as by bolting then: to thelugs A. Each support i) is provided on its inner side with a series ofhorizontal guide ribs or shoulders 1.), each sup 'iorting one edge ofone of the trays while the opposite edges of the trays are supported bythe guide ribs 1) of the other support 1). is clearly shown in Fig. 1,the guide ribs supporting the opposite edges of each tray are not at thesame level so that each tray is inclined to the horizontal and adjacenttrays are oppositely inclined. A space 0 is provided between the loweredge of each tray and the adjacent support I) through which the waterrun ning down the tray may escape. D are ports through which steam maypass into the spaces between the trays.

A door A is formed in the body of the heater which, when open, permitsthe trays to be moved in the direction of their length into and out oftheir operative positions, their removal for cleaning being necessaryfrom time to time.

Except for features of construction of the trays C to be hereinafterreferred to, the heater disclosed identical with heaters which have longbeen in extensive use. With such heaters diliiculty has been experiencedin sliding the trays out for the purpose of cleaning the heater becauseof the dirt which adheres to the trays C and tray supports D. and clogsthe space between the ribs 1). lVith some kinds of water frequently metwith in practice, after a short period of operation the trays becomecemented, so to speak, to the tray supports in such a man nor as to makeit di'liicult to remove the trays by sliding them out along the guideribs D. This difliculty I avoid with the present in vention by makingthe trays collapsible. As shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3, each traycomprises a body portion of a width less than the distancebetween thetray supports.

The upper edge of the body of the tray rests on the appropriate guide Dof one of the tray supports D, and the lower edge of the body of thetray is separated from the other tray support by the space C. To supportthe lower edges of the trays and to permit them to be collapsed ashereafter described, I tray portions in the form of dogs or mc1nbers Gare pivotally connected at C between the ears C projecting from thelower edges of the bodies of the trays. Where, as 1 shown, only one dogC is employed in each tray, it is located midway between the ends of thetray. Each dog C is formed with a tail C which abuts against theshoulder (1* of the tray body. lVhen the tray and dog are in place inthe appropriate guide ways D, as shown in full lines in Fig. 3, toprevent the tray from collapsing by buckling downward while permittingthe tray to collapse or buckle by moving the pivotal connection C upwardas indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 3.

With trays constructed as described, it will be clearly apparent tothose skilled in the art that when the spaces between the guide ribs Dare clogged with dirt or for other cause it is dilficult or impossibleto remove or insert a tray by sliding it along its supporting guide ribsD, the tray may be easily moved out of engagement with the tray supportsby applying a slight force to the underside of the tray to lift thepivotal connection C and cause the tray to buckle upward or collapse.

lVhile in accordance with the provisions of the statutes 1 have hereindescribed and illustrated the best form of my invention now known to meit will be obvious to those skilled that changes may be made in the formof the apparatus disclosed without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

Having now described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is,

1. In a water heater of the kind specified, the combination with a pairof spaced apart tray supports,ot one or more collapsible trays, formedeach of relatively movable portions normally cooperating to form a trayextending between and supported by said supports,

said portions being adapted to be moved relatively to each other topermlt the tray to be collapsed and moved out of the normal engagementwith said tray supports.

2. In a water heater of the kind specified, the combination with a pairof spaced apart tray supports of one or more collapsible trays normallysupported between said sup ports, each tray comprising relativelymovable portions and being adapted to collapse by buckling upward topermit the tray to be moved out of engagement with the tray supports,and means for preventing the trays from collapsing by buckling downward.

3. In a water heater of the kind specified, the combination with a pairof spaced apart tray supports formed with shoulders on their adjacentsides, of one or more collapsible trays each comprising two portionshinged together, one portion normally engaging a shoulder on one traysupport and the other portion a shoulder on the other support, and beingadapted to collapse by buckling upward to thereby move out of engagementwith the supporting shoulders, the two portions of each tray havingcooperating parts which engage to prevent the tray from collapsing bybuckling downward.

4. In a water heater of the kind specified, the combination with a pairof vertical spaced apart tray supports formed each with a series ofhorizontal shoulders on its side adjacent the other support, a series oftrays alternately inclined in opposite directions each comprising a bodyportion of a width less than the distance between said supports andhaving its upper edge resting on a shoulder of one of said supports, anda dog pivot-ally connected to its lower edge and adapted to swing intoand out of engagement with a shoulder on the other adjacent traysupport, the dog and body portion of each tray having cooperating partswhich engage to limit the upward movement of the free end of the dogrelative to the body portion.

JOSEPH V. GAMBLE. lVitnesses AnNoLD KA'rz, D. S'IIJ\VART.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. 0.

